"The threshold I not like Tilney!"
Like a great many things, Tilney knew this well. The patriarch had heard the complaints on every eastward wander, rolled his eyes at each snarling remark about easterly winds, and it was he who gritted his teeth against the telepathic groans of his bonded when the chiroptera realised that that was where they were headed; Peatree need not declare it for a  third time this trip, when in his short life time he had deemed it his least-favorite place in helovia close to three-hundred times.
"Whys us always go! We's go again an' again an' again an'again'n'again-"
"Pea!" Tilney bellowed through their bond, his brows creasing and nose turning toward the lamenting megabat. "There could be someone lost or even injured; This land is a dangerous frontier. And remember, recruiting may help our home.".

Yet another lamenting grunt came into his mind, one that caused his eyes to roll rather dramatically as the ginger stag allowed his first hoof into the forests of the Threshold.

It was morning. Mist choked the trunk of each of the archaic trees, the wilting kinds begining to look sadder by the minute. Even the evergreens looked like they'd never be cheerful again, but so was the will of the land. Spring would always come and renew what was currently dying in the woods, the fields, the burrows, and in all of the herds too Tilney might hope. The fog erupting from his nares was enough to make him glad he wore his dark green cloak and Lion's mane collar, the ensemble outfitting him quite nobly were they not slightly worn and torn at the edges.
"Aiya" Tilney whispered to the lantern upon his tines, noting that it was particularly dark today under the canopy. As it always did, the old and creaky lantern lit with a flicker and puff, soon to warm his skin and provide extra light through the pine needles and scratchy twig.

Peatree flew on ahead, dodging the haunting branches and reaching kindling,  soon to pause high up by the canopy upon a high pine's branch by a tendril of pinecones. Looking down into the glade he'd flown into, the bat found he had entered the sleeping quarter's of a rather spooky mare.
"Lady here I see!" Pea would soon tell Tilney, noting the stallion was not far off from the clearing with his lantern.

The Moon Doctor, who by now was but twenty yards or so from where he noted Pea was roosted upside-down like all megabats did, paused to look past the knife-like fingers the naked fir and pine trunks held and into the clearing.
A woman blacker than onyx with touches of white starker than bone. Tilney could tell she was a great animal, taller than he by at least an inch or two; a feat he hadn't seen accomplished by many women as he himself was on the tall end of the scale. It took only a second and no longer for worry to fill the stallion after he first beheld her, noting she lay instead of stood. Was she hurt? Was she dead?
"ah, Hello?" the gentle hearted man cooed past the trees before him, then making his move forward. "Madame?" He would continue, easing his paces forward into the area. "Are you alright?"

'What say her minds?'
Peatree looked down from his perch in the canopy at the ghostly woman, avoiding the gaze of the zephyr to the best of his ability; he knew those things were capable of pretty significant damage, and with wings as papery as a leaf Peatree felt the need to pull them closer.

While the bad had asked what the mare was thinking, Tilney had not yet began to pry. Slowly, as if approaching a startled wild doe, the doctor gingerly entered the grove. His dememor remained calm with the smallest of smiles on his lantern-lit face to match, his steps long but few. Witnessing how she stood, casting a learned and knowing gaze over each limb and how they worked their way to a standing position to gain any kind of assurance that she was not hurt. There was no blood, no evidence of a scrap, and from what he saw she had managed to stand quite fine; in summary, the subject was of adequate health from a first glance, albeit quite exhausted (and startled it would seem).
"I...I'm fine." she had finally croaked, her voice cracking with her words, though this was something that went almost unnoticed by the ginger one who only gazed back with concern, his own thoughts reaching out to the nightmare she was escaping.

"Nightmares. Hmm" He would conclude, soon withdrawing his powers from her midst; all it took was a thought, a look in another direction... it just happened. It switched off.
"I am Tilney,-" the gentleman paused, taking his gaze skyward as his bonded Chiroptera swooped down to take his place on his antlers. "-A Moon Doctor of the World's Edge".
"here I too, Tilney..." Pea scolded, turning his nose from the direction of the stranger and down towards the green eyes of his friend. A snort, one of laughter and sighs escaped the doctor's nostrils at the bat's antics, and shaking his cranium slightly the stag added an introduction for the fruit bat. "And this is Peatree. Are you a bit lost?"
He asked this lightheartedly, though his expression was slightly on the serious side. Being lost out here was no smiling matter.

Starry, widened eyes and her shocked expression was one Tilney was far too used to by now, and to the point it no longer brought a smile to his face like it once had. The look of someone who questioned if what they heard was correct was an odd one, a quirky one, and a kind that showed curiosity and interest (or perhaps blatant fear). 'You... You saw it? How' the witch had spoken, causing Tilney to take a stance perpendicular to her own. Once again the ginger gent felt grateful for his olive cloak and the shelter it provided from the frigid wind - the woman had a pair of wings for that, though, her neck must be cold surely.

Forgetting to answer her query, Tilney went to unlace the lion's mane collar that covered the base of his neck. "You must be terribly cold" he spoke to her after pulling on the end of the knot tied into the leather laces. Loosening the collar with a shrug, Tilney began to shake it off  of his neck while Pea parachuted to the pine needles beneath (he was no where near strong enough to carry it to the lady, but he'd give it a try of course).
Much to the bat's distaste, Tilney reached down and clasped a truft of the collar's fur between his jaws, craning his neck back before giving it a gentle toss in the lady's direction. Surely that Zephyr could manage, then again, she may not have come form a place where they even had clothes of these sorts. Newcomers he would presume, new to these lands like almost everyone in the Threshold was.

"If you are not lost, do you know where you are?" He spoke next, a wry smile lighting his slightly withered face as he set off by turning upon his hocks in the hope she would follow. And then, the stranger was no more. Her name was Idolum, and her zephyr Sospes. Once again he allowed his magic to extend, her thoughts easily ringing within his ears.
"What kind of hunting does your Zephyr intend?" he quizzed, briefly turning his nose over his shoulder to look at her, his paces taking him out of the glade and beginning a journey through the forest. "If he's quick he might get a squirrel or a hare, but there's not much else in these woods. Stick with me 'till the meadows though and it'll be a zephyrs dream"
He spoke this with a wide smile, his creaking lantern creating a strange but magical kind of music as he stepped over rock and twig. Tilney did hope she'd stay with him until the Thistle Meadow's at least, but he'd not pressure her to come to the Edge. She seemed like an independent one, the kind who preferred the solitude that came with isolation.
"Not long now"

The scent of another on his cloak would not bother him in the days to come, in fact perhaps he'd even cherish the reminder of their meeting. His own cinnamon scent was one he grew tired of, and it seemed even immune to by now. What sweet scent would linger on his clothes after Idolum wore them?
The ginger's pace was slow, slow enough to not mislead her or allow her to fall behind. Aware of her weariness and what seemed like an aversion to strangers, Tilney would do his best to present her with all the transparency he could; in the same essence, he hoped she was not the wolf in sheep's clothing.

Peatree had settled into the blankets of mane upon tilney's whithers, though instead of looking ahead at where the stallions footsteps took him, he looked back with cold eyes towards the Zephyr. Watching, waiting, scrutinising, acting as a pair of eyes on the back of Tilney's head. Any funny business and Tilney would know.
"Leave them be, Pea" The ginger would say, hoping the way wasn't glaring too hard.

"Does herd life interest you?" Tilney went on to speak out loud to his travelling companion. "I am from a herd to the west of here. If it's shelter, warmth, food and water you need we can be there by nightfall"
Of course she needed it, everyone did.

"But do you?" Tilney spoke, stopping in this tracks to allow his nose to turn in the woman's direction. It didn't really matter was Sospes wanted in his opinion; if she wasn't happy neither was she and such was the way of the bonded companion.  The corner of his mouth twitched into a smile, the kind that might show her he only mean't well and not to scold, but truthfully from first impressions it seemed as though she was a woman with little control or say in her destiny - a tragedy Tilney himself had befallen before.

His breaths turned to hums, a gentle tune escaping his lungs as he trudged with purpose over the varied terrain. It was only when they reached the Thistle meadow that his song ceased and he turned to look to Peatree, who was still watching over the pair that followed. There was ample room for the bat to fly now that they werent covered by trees, so reluctantly the bat took flight.
"Across these meadows lays the World's Edge" Tilney declared, gaze turning to Idolum "Mind you, it's one big meadow"